The Art Deco Masonic Hotel owners have offered five Covid heroes a stay at the hotel. Photo / File
The Art Deco Masonic Hotel owners have offered five Covid heroes a stay at the hotel. Photo / File
Local "Covid-heroes" are among five winners shouted a free stay at the Art Deco Masonic Hotel.
Hotel owners Neil Barber and Craig Hay wanted to do something to show their thanks for those who went the extra mile during Covid-19.
They held a Covid heroes competition and received over 150nominations from around the North Island. Finding it too hard to select just one winner, they provided five prize packs.
There were two main $800 prize packs and three runners-up who will receive a free night's stay with breakfast and a $100 meal voucher.
"He deserves it more than anyone I know; I couldn't keep positive in such tough conditions day after day for that long. He's a top bloke, he's in farming for the right reasons and would give the shirt off his back to anyone," he said.
MacMillan said he had no idea about the nomination and was surprised to receive the phone call.
The drought conditions paired with the Covid-19 lockdown were felt by farmers around the region.
"Having such a severe and prolonged drought this season definitely had huge effects on us; not only were we challenged to find feed to keep stock healthy and maintained, the effects of Covid-19 meant that prices dropped and the freezing works were no longer working at full capacity.
"This resulted in a significant financial burden. It's not something you focus on when trying to ensure the health of your stock in the middle of a drought but it does soon become obvious."
MacMillan said he felt "really humbled and grateful" to receive the prize and used it last weekend.
Greenmeadows School Deputy Principal Darren Holloway is one of the winners of the competition held by the Art Deco Masonic Hotel. Photo / Supplied
Greenmeadows School deputy principal Darren Holloway was also a winner.
He was nominated by his partner's mother, Sue Martin, who said he had acted selflessly staying in Covid levels 4, 3 and 2 alone while his partner cared for her father who was in palliative care.
As he had returned to school to supervise children of essential workers who had returned earlier, his isolation period away from his partner and children was longer to protect them from Covid-19.
"He sacrificed a lot but never complained or moaned. He was very gracious in what he did and remained humble throughout," Martin said.
Holloway said it was a "team effort" and his partner Rebecca "took on a far more difficult role during this time".
"I was rather surprised to have been recognised and even now I'm not sure that I deserve it. It was a team effort and I feel that what I personally contributed to helping Sue out was minimal."
He said the return to school was an "odd experience".
"When you have a school that usually has up to 500 kids running around, it's rather eerie when there are only 20 to 30.
"It was also really challenging to maintain social distancing, even though we only had a maximum of 10 children in a classroom. We had to be pretty imaginative at lunchtimes as we couldn't even share sports equipment!
"Thankfully we had a small team of adults who returned to school and made it a memorable experience for the children who had to be here so that their parents could return to work. We are very lucky to have such a dedicated and committed staff at our school."
The three other winners were Alexia Casbolt Stevens from Auckland, Sharlene Dawson from Waikato and Kiri Hannifin from Wellington.
